Battery-receptacle for electric vehicles.



No. 647,9!4. Patented Apr. l7, I900.

v C. H. CONDICT. BATTERY BECEPTACLE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

(Apialication filed Aug. 21, 1899.)

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TTORNEY No. 647,9I4. Patented Apr. l7, I900.

Cr H. CONDICT. BATTERY BECEPTACLE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

(Application filed Aug. 21, 1899.) I (No Model. 5 Shaets$heet 2 I Q A IA v g o fvweni or: 3W Georjelierber Candid,

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Patented Apr. '17, I900.

No. 647,9l4.

a. H. CONDICT. BATTERY RECEPTAGLE FDR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

(Application filed Aug. 21, 1899.)'

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No. 647,9l4. Patented Apr. l7, moo.

} a. H. CONDIGT. BATTERY REGEPTAGLE FOB ELEGTRIG VEHICLES.

- (Application filed Aug. 21, 1899.)

(No Model.)

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No. 647,914. Patented Apr. l7, I900.

a. H. CONDIDT. BATTERY REOEPTACLE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

(Application filed Aug. 21,1599.

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(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE HERBERT CONDICT, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

BATTERY-RECEPTACLE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 647,914, dated April17, 1900.

Application filed August 21,1899.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE HERBERT OoN- DIoT,a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of the city of Hartford, county ofHartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Battery-Receptacles for Drop-Frame Motor-Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in motor-vehicles of the type whichare propelled by electric motors supplied with current from storagebatteries carried by the vehicles.

The invention refers more particularly to the arrangement of storagebatteries'upon the vehicle with reference to the facility of removal ofspent batteries and their replacement by similar batteries which havebeen fully charged and are ready for use.

It also refers to the application of a sufficient quantity of storagebattery to vehicles of such construction as prevent the application of asingle battery of sufficient size, but which according to my inventionare supplied with an ample quantity of cells in two sepa rated portions,which are so constructed as to be handled as a unit and by mechanicalmeans.

My invention will be more fully set forth in the following descriptionand referred to in the appended claims, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation showingthe body part of the running-gear of the vehicle, together with a trayof battery to be applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top plan view, withportions broken away,of the battery-box or space in the body of thewagon shown in Fig. 1

within which the storage-battery cells are ac commodated. Figs. 3 and 4are transverse elevations, partly in sections, on the lines X X and Y Y,respectively, of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the battery-trayshown in Fig. 1, including also part of the sustaining devices. Fig. 6is a detail on the line X X of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side elevation,partly in section, of the battery-tray and sustaining devices indicatedin Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a plan View showing the frame of a vehicle,together with a battery-tray of same size and shape in each of itsseparated parts. Fig. 9 is a side elevation of one of the side frames ofthe ve- Serial Nb. 727,934. (No model.)

hicle running-gear as indicated in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a view inelevation, partly in section, showing the running-gear of a vehiclehaving a frame of the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9, togetherwiththe battery in position, and a removable body, the latter in dottedlines.

As indicated in the drawings, the particular type of vehicles to whichmy present invention is applied is onein which the floor or bottom ofthe body is nearer the ground at the center than at the back and front,the body therefore occupying the central portion and leaving only acomparatively-small space between the said central downwardly-extendingportion of the body and the rear axle and between it and the space inwhich the front wheels swing when it is desired to make a short turn.With horse-drawn vehicles these spaces are of little importance and aremerely occupied by framework necessary to secure the construction,whichwill admit of the dip in the frame to accommodate the depressed centralportion of the vehicle-body. Where, however, a vehicle is driven by astorage battery, the placing of a sufficient number of these upon thevehicle in positions where they will n 0t interfere with theconstruction thereof or with the comfort of the passengers and which,moreover, can be separated into two groups so combined as to be handledas a single unit, then such an arrangement becomes of the utmostimportance and forms the subject of the present invention.

A B (indicated in dotted lines) are the front and rear sets of wheels ofthe vehicle,of which 0 is the body, which may or may not be removable. V

D D represent a frame-bar which by suitable construction is dippeddownward in its middle portion to receive the depending portion E of thevehicle and is at its extremities supported upon the front and rearsprings ab.

F indicates a motor which is secured at the rear of the vehicle andconnected by suitable gearing with the rear axle f.

The body of the vehicle seen in' Fig. 1 is wider in the rear portionthan in the front. As seen in Fig. 2, G is the space underneath the rearportion of the body C, and H is the space under the front portion andforward of the depression d. These spaces are formed in the framework ofthe central portion of the vehicle running gear, as indicatedparticularly in Figs. 2, 3, and 4E, and as further indicated in saidfigures and also in Figs. 5 and 7 a latching device is secured in thelower portion of the depression d, which resembles in some of itsmechanical features an invention for which I made separate applicationfor Letters Patent, filed July 30, 1898, Serial No. 687,240. I

In order to apply the storage-battery system to a vehicle of this type,my invention provides for overcoming the difficulty by constructing anelongated tray I, in the opposite ends of which are arranged twoseparate groups of storage-battery cells J K, the tray being continuousand so strong and rigid in construction that when lifted up under thevehicle into the space or battery-box formed of the two spaces G H underthe parts of the body specifiedit can be latched into position and heldas desired. The tray I itself is of very rigid construction. Itsframework comprises an exterior angle-plate z. This is reinforced alongthe central portion of the tray by a second metallic plate 1'', andthese two plates are further reinforced by cross-plates 7' 7a, the endsof which are turned at right angles and riveted to the plates 7: t. Theends of the tray I are floored and lined with wood to form trays whichwill contain and protect the battery-jars L, placed therein. Said trayis also provided with a number-for instance,

four-of stationary contact-plates m m m m corresponding with inclinedyielding springpressed contact-plates h h g g which are permanentlysecured in position in the parts of the battery-box, as indicated inFigs. 2, 3, and 4. Each of the plates j 7.; is formed with an opening m,Figs. 6 and 7, to admit the ends of the supporting-hooks O. Across thedepressed portion cl of the frame of the wagon are secured twoangle-iron plates N N. To the outer edges of these angle-iron plates aresecured hinges n n, in each of which, two or more on each side, areconnected depending hooks O, which are in position corresponding withand are adapted to engage the edges of the openings m in the plates 7'is, attached to the battery-tray. This attachment is made secure andreliable, since the upturned lower ends of the hooks 0 enter the saidopenings and engage the upper edges thereof. The hooks depending fromthe bar N are attached to a connecting-bar P, and the hooks connectedwith the opposite bar N are similarly connected to a bar P, and to thesetwo bars are pivotally attached links 1919, which links are in turnpivoted at their inner ends to the extremities of a central pivotedlever Q, which is provided with a suitable operating-handle q, by meansof which when moved in one direction the said lever is oscillated topush the links away from each other and to extend the hooks 0 into theopenings on in the supporting-plates of the battery-tray and when turnedin the opposite direction, the tray hav ing been first slightly raised,to draw both levers toward the center and to pull the hooks out of theopenings m, and thereby detach them from the supporting-plates of thebattery to release the tray, so that it may be removed by lowering itaway from the vehicle.

While I have described my invention as applied to a vehicle of suchconstruction that only unequal spaces are found in which to bestow thebattery, it is equally applicable to a construction in which thebattery-tray can be symmetrically formed and alike at both ends. Such anarrangement is shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, in which a specially-devisedtruss-frame R is shown. Two of the frames R R are arranged in Fig. 8,and between them a battery-box is constructed in which is seen in planView in Fig. 8 a tray of battery comprising the portions S '1, united bya strong frame If, as is indicated in Fig. 10. The supporting-plates andthe engaginghooks are the same with this arrangement, the principaldifference being that the battery is constructed with both its separatedportions alike instead of their being of diiferent dimensions, asalready described. The separated portions S T of the battery, Figs. 8and 10, are applied from below, as already described, in any convenientmanner.for instance, as set forth in my said prior applicationthe saidseparated portions S T entering and being housed in portions or spaces UV fore and aft of the central depression (I in the frame, the intervening bars by which the said battery is placed together spanning orextending across the bottom of the depression d beneath the body itselfand just below the attaching devices, which are similar to thosedescribed. The body as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10 has been raiseda few inches in order to indicate its separability from therunning-gear, which forms a complete self-sustainin g andself-propelling truck capable of receiving a variety ofdilferently-constructed bodies.

While I have described my invention in connection with a vehicle of aparticular type in which two relatively-small spaces are utilized tocontain the desired quantity of storage battery by separating the sameinto two groups which are so mounted and sustained according to theinvention as to be treated as a single unit both in loading andunloading the vehicle and in charging the battery, it will be apparentthat it might also be desired in furtherance of the foregoing to dividethe battery into more than two separate groups, and this might readilybe done, in View of what is hereinbefore set forth, without departingfrom my invention, which is not limited to the specific employment oftwo separated portions of the storage battery, but would apply equallywell to the employment of a secondary battery divided into more than twogroups for the purpose of utilizing otherwise insufficient spaces and atthe same time minimizing the time and labor required to resupply thevehicle with this motive power.

Having now described my invention, What I claim is 1. A tray forcontaining and supporting battery, said tray divided into a plurality ofseparated parts joined together so as to constitute and be handled as asingle unit.

2. A battery-tray divided into two separate parts joined together so asto constitute and be handled as one.

3. The combination with a motor-vehicle having separated receptacles forstorage bat tery, of a plurality of groups of storage battery connectedtogether so as to be handled as a single unit.

4. A tray containing storage battery havin g two separate receptaclestherefor, said receptacles being separated so as to occupy differentpositions upon the vehicle, but rigidly connected so as to constitute asingle unit.

5. A battery-tray having a battery-receiving receptacle at each endseparated by a central space and connected by a suitable frame,supporting-plates in said central space and connected with the frame ofthe tray.

6. The combination with a vehicle, the frame of which has a transversecentral depression, a battery box or tray on each side of the depressionand a tray adapted to carry storage batteries and formed in twoseparated portions each adapted to fit in one of the battery-receivingspaces of the vehicle and the two said portions being rigidly connectedso as to form a single staple unit.

7. The combination with a motor-vehicle having a transverse depressionin its frame, battery-receiving spaces in front of and in the rear ofthe depression, supporting-hooks and means for moving them toward oraway from a central point simultaneously, said hooks located in thelower part of the depres sion in the frame of the vehicle and astoragebattery-supporting tray having two groups of battery, one on eachend corresponding with the battery-receiving spaces in the vehicle uponopposite sides of the depression, and rigid plates extending across thetray adapted to register with and engage the supportinghooks upon thevehicle.

Signed by me at New York, N. Y., this 18th day of August, 1899.

GEORGE HERBERT OONDIOT.

Witnesses:

FRANKLAND JANNUS, J. HARRY HULL.

